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Williamstown volleyball bests Ritchie for sectional title

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

WILLIAMSTOWN - Claire Strobl registered her 1,000th career kill for two-time defending state champion Williamstown here Wednesday night as the Yellowjackets of head coach Rachelle Cole handed Ritchie County a 25-21, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-17 setback in the Class A, Region I, Section 2 championship match.

Strobl double-doubled with 17 kills and a baker's dozen digs. The senior also added an ace and six blocks as the 'Jackets, along with the Rebels, advanced to the 2 p.m. Saturday regional semifinals at Ritchie County.

"I'm anxious to see how the other sectional play turns out and we'll just start working from there. We came out a little slower than I would've liked tonight, but it's important to be able to dig out of those holes," admitted coach Cole, whose squad trailed 19-12 in the opening set.

"At least we got to practice doing that tonight and I do think they responded well. When they turned it on I thought they looked pretty good. There are still some things we could work on that we need to work on, but we are excited for Saturday and see where it goes."

Everything was going the way of the Rebels for head coach Michelle Jones early on.

Jayci Gray had two aces in a four-point spurt and the 'Jackets trailed 19-12 after Sydney Kopshina registered one of her match-high 18 kills.

However, Strobl had a run of seven straight service points as the Rebels committed a quartet of unforced errors during the spurt. After another Kopshina kill, which came via an Anna Law assist, the Rebels had the set even at 20. However, a service error followed and WHS got an ace from libero Keatyn Haynes and then a kill by Becca Shamblin to take early momentum.

Ritchie County had set two even at four early following an Andrea Davis kill with libero Baylee Butta at the service line. WHS took the lead for good at 9-8 thanks to one of Shamblin's 16 kills.

The hosts were able to take control thanks to eight straight points from Akhia Miller, who finished with seven kills, five blocks and an ace. Haynes, who had an ace and 18 digs, served for the final two points to close out the set.

Shamblin, who also double-doubled thanks to her 20 digs, gave WHS a 12-10 cushion after she registered a kill thanks to one of Kyndra Jonnson's match-high 35 assists.

Two aces from Kopshina gave the Rebels a 23-22 lead, but it was all square after she had a service error. Nonetheless, Law put one to the floor that clipped off the top of the net as Kila Frymier earned set point via a Gray downed spike.

In set four, Ritchie County had an early 4-1 cushion thanks to a solo block by Rae Rupert on Strobl. The visitors still led 15-13 after another Kopshina kill. However, the 'Jackets managed to square it at 15 following a Strobl/Emma Kiger double block and a service tally from Riley Landis, who had 15 digs.

Landis went on to score four more points and the 'Jackets never looked back. The final three points of the year for WHS came via a Kiger downed spike, a Shamblin ace and a Strobl kill.

"Before the game me and my senior friends were like 'holy cow, this is our last home match here' and that's just so hard after playing volleyball in this school since sixth grade, but like I know I'm on to better things and everything has to come to and end so it's OK," admitted Stroble, whose 1,000th career kill came on her first downed spike of the fourth set.

"Our rotation has been set for probably three weeks now. We have all these sectional and regional plaques and it's just fun to win with the team."

The Rebels (22-12-1) and the Yellowjackets will need to win their regional semifinal in order to advance to next week's state tournament in Charleston.

"It's worked when it's needed to so far so we are probably going to stick with it unless we see a reason to change it," said coach Cole, who got 16 digs from Johnson, of the current rotation. "It was exciting. There was a three-way tie for sectional because we had all beat each other. We lost to Wood County Christian. We beat Ritchie and then Ritchie beat Wood County Christian.

"We won the tiebreaker so that has been in our favor so far. We got to host, which is always a little bit easier I think to play at home in front of your home crowd on your own home floor. It means a lot to the seniors to get to play one last time so that was pretty cool. It was a nice crowd. We don't always get a crowd for volleyball, but we did tonight."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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